The present invention relates to surgical implements in general, and more particularly to improvements in apparatus for clamping, sewing and cutting or trimming organs of living bodies, particularly viscera in abdominal or thoracic cavities.
It is known to employ a surgical apparatus to provide a severed viscus with a closure not unlike that known from old-fashioned tobacco pouches. Such apparatus or instruments are used upon opening of the abdominal or thoracic cavity to clamp a viscus for the purpose of introducing a thread which is thereupon tightened around a selected portion of the viscus in imitation of the thread or string at the openable end of a tobacco pouch. Anastomosis is but one of numerous surgical procedures which can be carried out by utilizing a clamping apparatus at the open end or at the open portion of an internal organ. Another procedure which can be carried out with a clamping and sewing apparatus is resection of viscera.
A drawback of presently known apparatus for the above outlined purposes is that their application and utilization take up an inordinately large amount of time. Certain conventional apparatus employ a pair of needles which must be individually introduced into and pushed along guides. The next step involves tightening of the thread which is affixed to the needles so that the tightened thread closes the open part of a viscus in a manner known for the openable end of a pouch. Though the clamping means of conventional apparatus simplify the task of a surgeon, the utilization of such instruments still necessitates the expenditure of a considerable amount of time and much skill.
Another drawback of conventional apparatus of the above outlined character is that they are rather bulky and expensive. Furthermore, certain mobile constituents of conventional apparatus cannot be reliably maintained in optimum positions preparatory to, during and subsequent to introduction into a body cavity, e.g., through a standard trocar. Moreover, it is not possible to immediately and reliably ascertain the momentary position of each movable constituent. Accordingly, there exists an urgent need for simple, versatile, compact and relatively simple apparatus which can be utilized by surgeons to close the open ends or severed parts of internal organs, particularly viscera in abdominal and/or thoracic cavities.